I'll Never Let Them Take You
by ArbitraryW
Summary: Takes place during the Chunin Exam Arc. During Hinata and Neji's fight, when Neji charges that final time, he makes it. He lands a crushing blow to Hinata and Naruto blames himself. Now, he'll do anything to make her better, even find Tsunade. NaruHina.
1. Chapter 1

Neji's strike rang true and Hinata fell to the floor, blood leaking steadily from the corners of her mouth. She didn't move, she didn't speak. Her sensei, Kurenai, looked down. Everyone was deadly quiet in the wake of Hinata's apparent loss.

Naruto looked down at her, a deep frown on his face. He didn't know what to do; Hinata was obviously in a great amount of pain. The proctor apparently thought that the match was over.

"Continuing is impossible and thus-" he was cut off by Naruto's loud shout.

"Don't stop it!" he yelled, staring intently at Hinata. Shock crossed everyone's face. Sakura's, though, contorted more in anger.

"What are you talking about, you idiot?" she asked, hitting him roughly over the head, "She's at her limit! She unconscious!" she screamed, glaring as he fell to the ground because of her strike. Kakashi looked at Naruto, his one visible eye obviously confused.

"I didn't know that you were so cruel, Naruto," he said sadly. Naruto looked at him with a questioning gaze. "She's obviously in a great amount of pain. It's almost abuse to make her keep going at this point," Kakashi pointed out solemnly. Naruto looked at Hinata again.

He then smiled hugely, "Just you look!" he said happily. Everyone again looked down in shock as Hinata was slowly- and painfully- climbing to her feet. She was breathing heavily and holding her side, but she was standing. Neji glared hatefully.

"Why do you still stand? If you keep pushing yourself , you'll die for sure," he said cruelly. Hinata smiled slightly.

'_The person I admire is finally watching me,_' Hinata thought with pride. She looked up, bleeding everywhere, but still smiling . Naruto smiled down at her and Neji just re-activated his Byakugan. "It's not…over," she panted, "I don't… go back… on my word. That…is also my ninja way!" Hinata yelled one more time, though clutching her left side in pain from Neji's abuse to her heart. Neji just sneered.

"Acting tough is useless," he spat. "you can barely stand, I can see that. From the time of your birth," Neji started to monologue, "the responsibility of the Hyuuga main house has been forced upon you. You have always hated yourself for your own weakness… but people cannot change. That is destiny," he finished, glaring again. "There's no need to suffer anymore, let it go!" he shouted at her. Hinata frowned, but her expression was one of pity and sympathy.

"That's not true Neji-nii-san. Because…" she stopped to cough violently, "Because, you've got it backwards. I can see it too. It's not me at all. The person suffering most because of the destiny and tension between the two houses of the Hyuuga Clan… is you Neji," she sighed.

Neji's Byakugan flared. With pure hatred on his face, he charged forward, ready to land the final strike. The proctor panicked.

"Neji! No! This match is over!" he yelled. But Neji didn't listen.

With a speed he never before possessed, he dashed forward to strike Hinata one more time. The jonin were right behind him… but too late.

"Hinata!" Naruto screamed. Hinata's eyes drifted upward and locked on Naruto's. Then, she hacked up about a pint of blood and stopped breathing. She collapsed on the hard stone floor and lay still.

Naruto was on the floor next to her in an instant. "Hinata!" he was yelling over and over. He shook her, but still she didn't move; didn't breathe. Kurenai was screaming for medics in the background, and everyone was yelling in shock, but Naruto didn't hear them. He knelt next to her and held her hand tightly, whispering her name and his eyes filling up with tears. If only he had never told her to get up that last time. If only he'd just let her lay there the first time, with less serious injuries. Kakashi was right, he had been cruel. He's been so cruel for expecting so much from her.

"I'm so sorry Hinata," he whispered, crying. The medic nin finally arrived and loaded her still body onto a stretcher. They too started to panic and one of them started up a small electricity jutsu, trying to start her heart back up. A team of almost ten doctors were rushing around her, trying to bring her back to them. Neji was behind Naruto at this point, mentally smirking at her failure to get even a breath of life. He was so preoccupied that he didn't notice Naruto until he was flying across the room by a strong punch from the Kyuubi container. Naruto's eyes were red and slitted. His nails and teeth lengthened and sharpened and blood red chakra was starting to leak out of him. Sakura was just about to tell him to calm down before he turned his eyes on her. Tears started to stream from her eyes as she realized how affected by this he was.

Kakashi put his hand on Naruto's shoulder and Naruto almost hit him. "Naruto," he said calmly, "get a hold of yourself. Hinata wouldn't be happy if you got yourself disqualified just for her," he said, trying to restrain Naruto from killing Neji. Naruto glared hard at him, but saw the logic. The red chakra slowly dissipated and his eyes turned blue again.

There was a large commotion behind him and he turned around too see Kurenai looking very relieved and the other genin smiling.

"We got her," one of the medics said. Naruto rushed forward to hold her hand again and, to his relief, that she had a pulse, albeit a weak one. He smiled and tears coursed down his cheeks. He sighed in relief and Kurenai stared at him softly. All eyes were then drawn to the front of the room as the Hokage spoke.

"Hinata's plight is… unfortunate, but we must continue the preliminaries," he said. Naruto's eyes flashed at the mention of the Hyuuga heiress. Naruto then turned his back on the rest of the genin and started to follow Hinata to the hospital. It was his fault. He felt that, deep inside, if he'd not stopped the proctor from proclaiming Neji the victor the first time, Hinata wouldn't be this hurt.

**"Gosh kit, where's all this sympathy coming from? I thought that you thought that she was a 'dark weirdo'? At lest that's what you told me,"** the fox taunted him. Naruto growled in his mind.

_'I never said she wasn't a friend. She's just weird. And don't you dare insult her! She's hurt and in pain, so I don't want to hear it from you!'_ Naruto shouted in rage in his mind. The Kyuubi just chuckled.

**"Aww! Is my kit worried about his little vixen?"** Kyuubi asked in a baby-ish tone of voice.

Naruto stepped back a little in his mindscape. _'What?'_ he shouted in confusion. Kyuubi gave a huge fox grin behind his bars.

**"Come on kit. It's not hard to admit that she's very cute. And you will be needing a mate later in life…" **the fox trained off suggestively, raising his eyebrows as best he could. Naruto just blushed a dark red in his mind.

_'Kyuubi, you idiot. I don't think about Hinata-chan like that,' _he denied. Kyuubi laughed loudly.

**"Are you sure? She's a lot prettier than that pink-haired banshee,"** he smiled. Naruto's face contorted in anger. He opened his mouth, but Kyuubi cut him off. **"And since when do you call the white-eyes 'Hinata-chan'?"** he asked, grinning.

Naruto just blushed and left the conversation. He was almost out of the door when Sakura called out to him from up on the balcony.

"You're leaving? But the preliminaries aren't over yet!" she yelled. He turned slowly and glared at her. She flinched under his gaze and looked away. He continued on his way; vaguely noticing that bushy brows was fighting that Gaara kid next.

The trip was filled with turmoil because Hinata stopped breathing three times, each time having to be resuscitated by a med-nin. Naruto was pretty much silent, mulling over the fight and trying to figure out what he could've done differently to stop Hinata from being this hurt. The idea that this was al his fault was cemented into his mind. That and Neji's. He was more than furious at Neji for what he did to Hinata.

He vowed to himself that he would win if they had to fight each other in the finals. He would kick his ass all the way from here to Suna.

**"And you think you're not protective of her,"** Kyuubi pointed out sarcastically. Naruto scowled and just moved closer to Hinata. Kurenai watched all this with carefully masked surprise. Naruto had never shown any kind of interest in Hinata before, but now he wouldn't leave her side. Perhaps he thought she needed protection? Or did he finally see her? Kurenai was about to ask him when she heard him to speak to the unconscious Hinata.

"Hinata-chan… I am so sorry. If I had just let you stay down… let the proctor call the match when he was going to the first time… you wouldn't be this hurt. I'm so sorry," Naruto whispered. Unabashed disbelief through Kurenai. He thought that this was his fault? He hadn't done anything but encourage Hinata to get stronger. That he would somehow perceive that he was at fault here was shocking to say the least. Kurenai placed a gentle hand on Naruto's shoulder, but his eyes didn't move from Hinata's face.

"Naruto," she said softly, "none of this is your fault," he finally looked at her and his face was thoroughly surprised. He had forgotten that Kurenai had come along. When he processed her words, though, he looked back down at Hinata; at her fingers tightly intertwined with his own. He slowly shook his head.

"Yes it is Kurenai-sensei. I should've just let her give up. Not made her stand up again. What if she died? No, I wouldn't ever forgive myself. I'll make sure that she get's better. And I'll beat Neji too, even if it kills me," he promised solemnly, wishing that Hinata was awake to hear it. If Kurenai wasn't surprised before, she was now. To hear such a grave and serious promise from the usually bright and happy boy. She frowned deeply.

"Naruto," she said firmly. He didn't look up. "if you had told Hinata just to lay down, if you had told her to give up, I wouldn't have forgiven you and Hinata would've been very disappointed. She fought hard today and she's probably very proud of herself. Naruto, Hinata was fighting for you and her. She is just happy that you saw her today. She had always tried so hard to show her father that she means something; to show her family she's not useless. And she's tried to show you that she's strong," she told him gently. Naruto had looked up somewhere in the middle of that and stared at her with a shocked expression. He looked at Hinata's unconscious and bleeding form.

"Sh-she was f-fighting for m-me?" he stuttered out slowly.

**"Well kit, it was kind of obvious the way that she kept looking at you and the way she's always following you," **Kyuubi told his container sarcastically. Naruto's mouth fell open in his mindscape and he started gasping slightly.

_'Why didn't you tell me?'_ he retorted in his mind. Kyuubi just shrugged.

** "You never asked,"** he said bluntly. Naruto rolled his eyes.

When their little medical group made it to the hospital -which took way less time then it seemed like to Naruto- Hinata was immediately rushed to intensive care. For hours doctors bustled in and out of the emergency hall while Naruto just paced. The Kyuubi container sat in front of the ICU doors for over six hours, mulling over what he was told by his demon. Hinata followed him? Hinata… cared about him? She fought for him?

**"Yes kit, she really cares about you. You should look around and be aware next time you train… if she's out of the hospital by then,"** he said tauntingly. **"Well, I guess you have to train for the finals of the chunin exam, so I guess she won't be around to talk you,"** he teased. This got the desired effect and Naruto growled in his mind.

_'You leave her alone!'_ He screamed. Kyuubi just smiled again.

**"Oh, no! This is far too fun to stop now! I enjoy torturing you! And I can't wait till the end of the month when you get your ass kicked by that Hyuuga boy!"** Kyuubi told him teasingly.

_'You shut up! You don't know anything!'_ he screamed. On the outside of his mind he had froze and clutched at his pant leg in anger. His eyes turned red and his fingers grew clawed. His eyes clenched shut and he frowned. His teeth lengthened and he shrunk in upon himself.

"Na-Naruto," Sakura spoke softly, breaking Naruto out of his reverie. She was standing there, holding her clenched fists over her chest and heart protectively, in worry and fear. His eyes and claws returned to normal, but he still glared at Sakura. She flinched.

"What do you want?" he asked in an icy tone. She backed away and didn't speak. Naruto got frustrated at this and stood up aggressively from his seat in front of the emergency room.

"Now, now Naruto," Kakashi said quietly, coming around the corner behind Sakura, "there's no need to take out all your anger at Neji on Sakura," his one eye flashing. Naruto looked at both Kakashi and Sakura, sighed, and then resumed his place on the bench. All at once, his face switched like a light from angry to deeply concerned. He looked so sad looking there that Sakura almost cried.

"I'm not really angry right now I'm just-" Naruto faltered, looking for words, "I'm just… just worried and frustrated," he told them finally. Kakashi came over and sat down beside him. He put a comforting hand on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto looked at him and Kakashi saw tears beginning to form at the corners of the Kyuubi container's eyes. "I… I… It's all my fault!" he yelled at Kakashi and buried his face into the older jonin's shoulder. Kakashi was surprised to feel that Naruto was actually crying. The boy had sworn never to cry unless he was really happy because crying solved nothing.

"Now, why is it your fault?" the cyclops asked. Naruto pulled his head away and stared at the floor again.

"I should've let her stay down. Kakashi… y-you were right. It was cruel to make her keep getting back up. She wouldn't have been this hurt!" he yelled.

They sat in total silence. Kakashi and Sakura were downright shocked to hear that Naruto assumed that the damage done to Hinata was somehow 'all his fault'.  
**_"HEY! HE SHOULD BE PAYING ATTENTION TO US DAMMIT! WE GOT HURT IN OUR BATTLE TOO! CHA!" _**Inner Sakura screamed.

_'We're not almost dead,'_ Sakura pointed out. _'Plus, since when did we care what Naruto thought?'_ she asked suspiciously.

**_"WE'VE NEVER HAD ANY REASON TOO! HE'S ALWAYS BEEN OBSESSED WITH US!"_** Inner Sakura reasoned loudly. Sakura sighed. _'I've got to get some therapy,'_ she thought to herself. She turned her attention back to Naruto who was clutching his head painfully and trying not to listen to something neither she nor Kakashi could hear.

**"Kami, Naruto, you can't protect anybody! Though, this is the first time someone's been hurt because of you instead of in spite of you,"** Kyuubi taunted. Naruto was trembling on the outside in rage and fear.

_'Shut up! She's not hurt because of me! She was already hurt!'_ He screamed. Kyuubi laughed.

**"But kit! Don't tell me you already forgot! She was fighting for you!"** He barked out. Naruto shook in anger. Something dawned on him, though, so he slowly looked at Kakashi and Sakura.

"How long?" he asked. They were confused. How long for what? For Hinata to die? No one knew that.

"How long for what, Naruto?" Kakashi asked quietly. He was really hoping that Naruto hadn't given up hope that Hinata was going to live so soon. "Hinata's not going to die, Naruto," he told the boy slowly.

Naruto nodded. "Oh, I know that. I've already sworn that I was going to make her better. But, how long has she been watching me? How long has she… cared?" he slowly got quieter, so by the end of his sentence, only Kakashi knew what the container had said, being much closer than Sakura.

Sakura looked down. "We were all wondering when you were going to see her Naruto. She's been watching you since the first day of the academy," she admitted quietly. Naruto's eyes widened exponentially. That long?

"Y-you mean… if someone had t-told me… if I had s-seen her… I would've had f-friends? That far back?" he asked, very sad again. Sakura started to cry at his heartbroken expression. All she could do was nod. Naruto cried at this. He once again buried his head into Kakashi's shoulder and let out all this pain, sorrow, guilt, and loneliness. He didn't scream or sob. He just let all the silent tears pour out of his eyes. Kakashi patted his back and kept trying to tell him that it wasn't his fault. Hinata was hurt already. It wasn't his fault.

Hours later, Naruto was asleep outside the ICU doors, and Kakashi and Sakura were long gone. One doctor emerged from the emergency room and was startled to see Naruto still there. The man shook the Kyuubi boy's shoulder and he bolted up.

"What, what?" he shouted. The doctor stepped back in surprise and Naruto saw him. His face lit up and he sprang up from his seat. "You're a doctor right? How's Hinata-chan? Is she going to be okay? Can I see her? Is she awake?" Naruto asked question after question, never giving the man time to answer. The doctor in question just looked down and tugged a little on his collar.

"I'm not sure I'm authorized to tell you…" he trailed off. In all honesty he thought the Kyuubi brat was here to terrorize the girl or some other such nonsense. He thought again though, when he saw Naruto's heartbroken expression. "Er, but… I guess I can at least tell you how her status…" he stuttered. Naruto grinned and looked at the man eagerly. The man sighed. "She's not doing good," he started, "her heart has been beaten way out of repair. She has two, maybe three months to live. She won't be conscious for at least another month. There's nothing we can do to fix her heart at his point. It's a wonder she's still alive. When she was fighting she must have had one hell of an incentive to keep at it," the doctor trailed off in awe. Naruto was crying again; all the while cursing himself for being so weak. The old doctor sighed and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "The only one skilled enough to fix her- and even then, she'd only have less than a fifty percent chance of survival- would have been the legendary Sannin, Tsunade. But she hasn't been seen for years," he said sadly. Naruto looked up at him desperately.

"Can't you just give her a new heart?" he pleaded. The man just shook his head sadly.

"It's not just her heart, it's the heart and the whole area around it. We can't replace her whole chest cavity. Her lungs also took a severe beating," he looked down and sighed again. Naruto had slipped to his knees on the floor and was trying not to die of guilt. H-he had… he had to know.

"You know, she took two hits to her heart," Naruto started, the man nodded. "if… if the second blow wouldn't have ever been made… would she be this bad? Would she still die?" he asked distraughtly. The doctor thought for a moment.

"Most likely not. The damage to her heart would've been much less extensive. We would've been able to heal that. We can tell which amount of damage was done first because it's degenerated way more. The second batch of internal injuries is what got her. I'm sorry, but with a little healing and rest, she would have been fine," he sighed. Naruto was looking at the floor, so he couldn't judge the boy's expression. "Anyway, you need to be getting home, boy. She won't wake up for weeks and even so, visiting hours are over," the doctor said. He walked away after Naruto seemed to be getting up. The boy walked home in silence. Not even Kyuubi had any idea of what to say. The dark night seemed to suck up the silence and throw it right back into his face.

When he got to his apartment, he burst into tears. All those years of self-control crumbled in the face of what he'd done. This time he didn't do it quietly. He sobbed and shouted. He beat the floor with his fists and let out all the anger. Naruto was shaking in rage and trying so hard not to listen to Kyuubi.

**"Just do it now, kit! Go into the white-eyes' house and kill him where he lay! Take his life as he took Hinata's! Do it!"** Kyuubi screamed. Naruto shook his head. If he killed Neji now, where would the satisfaction be? The awe-inspiring battle, with Naruto pushing out to win as the under dog? Kyuubi grudgingly agreed that that would be acceptable.

_'Why do you care anyway?' _ Naruto screamed. _'You said Hinata was weak! You called her all those names! I hate you, you bastard fox!'_ the boy raged. Kyuubi shook his head.

**"Stupid boy! I called her weak because it made you mad! I have nothing against your vixen! I mean, just look at her! She had excellent potential to be a gorgeous mate in the future! You know I'm right kit! Look,"** Kyuubi said in Naruto's mindscape. Kyuubi came to the front of his cage so Naruto could see him properly. The fox waved his paw in the air and a picture of Hinata materialized, standing there, smiling shyly.

_'Where did you get that?'_ Naruto shouted. Kyuubi rolled his eyes.

** "From your memories of course. Now, look here,"** he said, gesturing at the Hinata image to prove his point. **"Look right there! You can see how thick this jacket is, can't you? Even so, you can still see her breasts! If that pink-haired banshee wore this coat, she'd look exactly like a boy! Kami, this girl here, the white-eyes, must have some huge mounds under there!"** the pervy-demon shouted, excited. Naruto sweat dropped and glared.

_'Like I'd ever let you touch her, bastard,'_ the boy seethed. Kyuubi waved his paw dismissively.

** "I have access to all your memories, kit. I see what you see, hear what you hear, feel what you feel, hear what you think, taste what you taste. I'd know about every moment you had with that girl,"** he pointed out smugly. Naruto blushed a dark red. Kyuubi's face got serious. **"Really though kit, you need to kill the boy. Kill that Hyuuga boy while Hinata still has breath in her body,"** he said solemnly. Naruto's face darkened.

"I intend to,"


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors note: Thank you guys for all the reviews! Holy sheet! That was a lot for only, like, two days! Here's thanks to all of you (to name a few):**

**etj4Eagle, ****Light Side Darth Vader, ****naruhinaramen, ****Darth Anthony, ****freedomriderx, ****Nightshadegirl, ****yooper0987, ****Werewolf lycan, ****catchysummer, ****shinonigga, ****DeaGrimm, ****The Raven's Flute, ****the DragonBard****, Silver Ice Bullet, ****Nolisten, ****Shadow of a moonless night, ****Inferuno Ookami-Ryuu, ****linksword01, ****Rose Tiger, ****RasenganFin, ****koolbanana, ****Sgt. Nolisten, ****WolfLord04****, warlordluke****, and nitwittie.**

**Thank you all so much for your reviews, subscriptions, favs, and general support! (sorry for taking so long to get to the story! i won't do this again ^^;)**

Naruto woke up still tired the next morning. He was physically and emotionally exhausted from the day before. The memories came back in a rush. Hinata fighting, Hinata caring,… Hinata dying. Naruto's blood boiled and he had to control himself again. The bright morning smiled at him cheerily and the boy hated it. Why should the world be happy if Hinata was slowly dying? Dying alone. Dying in pain. Naruto wanted to cry, but he couldn't bring himself too. He was dry.

He showered in silence. Ate his breakfast in silence. Dressed in silence.

That silence was broken by a sharp knock on his front door. The boy didn't want to answer it, but it could be his sensei. Naruto walked to the door, his forehead protector and iconic jacket gone and his blonde hair disheveled. He opened the door slowly with eyes clouded with pain. Those eyes widened in shock to see the Hokage. The old man smiled warmly.

"Hello Naruto," he greeted. Naruto's surprise faded and he looked away.

"Hey," he mumbled. The Hokage strode past Naruto into the boy's house. He heard the door close slowly and Naruto shuffled after the aging leader. The old man didn't know of Hinata's condition and therefore, couldn't understand the container's dejected mood.

"What's wrong?" he asked, "You should be happy! You passed to the final stage of the exams!" he clapped Naruto on the shoulder. The boy shook it off in rage.

"Happy?! Why? What's the point?!" Naruto shouted, turning away after almost punching the old Hokage in the face. Sarutobi looked at Naruto with unveiled shock. He thought that Naruto would be excited that he progressed to the next level. He couldn't understand Naruto's anger.

"Naruto," he whispered softly, "what happened?" Naruto whirled around with his eyes blazing and his hands clenched into fists.

"Hinata is going to die and it's all my fault! I made her get back up when the proctor was going to call the match! She got back up and Neji hit her again! Now she's going to die! Kakashi said it was cruel to make her fight in all that pain, but I didn't listen! I made her keep going! She's gonna die old man!" he yelled. Naruto fell to his knees again and cried, even though he thought he had no more tears. His whole frame shook with each sob and Sarutobi was at a loss for words. He once again put his hand on the boy's shoulder. He still didn't know that all Naruto said was true.

"Listen, Naruto, I'm sure you're overreacting," he started gently. Hearing this, Naruto roughly pushed the Hokage off of him.

"No! I'm not overreacting! I talked to the doctor! Her heart, lungs, heck, her whole chest cavity is pulverized! They can't replace her whole body! She's got maybe three months to live, old man! And they… they said… that if she hadn't been hit that last time, she would've been fine! They could've fixed her jiji! They could've fixed Hinata-chan! And now… because of my stupid, STUPID, cheering, she's going to die!" he screamed, collapsing into tears again.

Sarutobi stepped back and called in an ANBU wearing a bear mask. If the shinobi was surprised to see the Kyuubi brat crying his eyes out, he didn't show it.

"Kuma," the Hokage ordered, "go to the hospital and find out the status of Hyuuga Hinata. Bring back the results to me," the bear ANBU nodded and disappeared. The Hokage knelt down and tried to comfort Naruto, but the boy just stood up and ran to his room. The old man sighed.

A few minutes later the ANBU reappeared. Bearing the worst news possible.

"Status of Hyuuga Hinata: Fatal internal injuries to the heart and lungs. Two to three months expected survival time. Severe blood loss. Muscle tearing. Chakra disruption. Expected time to awake: at least one month, sir," he reported. The Hokage sighed.

"Naruto was right," he muttered. He turned back to the ANBU. "Inform the family and bring me the rookie genin teams well enough to leave the hospital," he spoke firmly, despite his age.

"Yes sir," the ninja nodded before disappearing. The Hokage stood still for a minute, eyes closed, collecting his thoughts. He then resignedly walked towards Naruto's room.

Naruto's room was one of only two true rooms in his apartment. The living room was connected to the dining room which was connected to the kitchen. It was all one open space. At the end of a short hallway you came to two doors; one for the bathroom and one for his bedroom. As Sarutobi approached the bedroom he could here that Naruto had stopped crying, but was muttering to himself. The Hokage was tempted to press up close to the door and listen in, but thought better of it. Naruto didn't trust much as it was. So, instead, he knocked. The muttering broke off and silence descended. The old man knocked again. A furious Naruto stood in the doorway and glared.

"What?" he asked brusquely. The Hokage just smiled.

"I just wanted you to know that since you did progress to the finals, I wanted to make you aware of who your facing," he smiled to the boy, hoping to cheer him up a bit. Naruto's face was set in stone.

"I'm not going to finish the Chuunin exams. I'm leaving Konoha to go find Tsunade," he told Sarutobi. The old man's mouth opened and he started gasping like a fish. Naruto glared harder.

"B-b-but Naruto! Y-you have to compete! Your first match is with Hyuuga Neji!" the man explained, trying to give Naruto some reason not to go looking for his former student. At this, Naruto froze. His eyes narrowed to slits and he seemed to start almost vibrating in anger. The Hokage stepped back a little in fear of the container.

"Fine," Naruto growled, "I will stay. But only because I swore that I would beat him," the boy snarled. Sarutobi tried to protest. He just really didn't want Naruto to go looking for Tsunade. That woman had hated Konoha ever since her lover Dan died, and it would kill the container to find her only for her to refuse to come back to heal Hinata.

"Naruto-" the Hokage started, but was cut off by a loud jostling outside, the sound of voices, and several knocks. Naruto, with his face icy, brushed past the aging man and made his way to the door. As Naruto trudged towards the door muttering and cursing under his breath, the bear ANBU reappeared behind Sarutobi.

"I have brought the rookie genin as per your request. I regret to say that their jonin senseis have also insisted on tagging along," the kura-nin lowered his head. The Hokage pulled his pipe out of his robes and lit it, waving his hand dismissively.

"That is acceptable. They also should hear the news of poor Hyuuga Hinata. Did you also tell the family?" the old man asked casually. He knew the ANBU had, but he just wanted to open up conversation for the report. The shinobi stiffened.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," he spoke robotically, as if nervous. The old man motioned with his hand for the ninja to continue. "They… they did not care, Hokage-sama. The elders were unhappy that she was so weak for getting beat by Neji, a branch member. Hiashi-san said that now Hanabi could be undisputed clan head, and only the branch members looked remorseful. With the exception of Hyuuga Neji, that is Hokage-sama," the ANBU spoke quickly and left after giving his report. Sarutobi frowned and quickly looked and to see if Naruto had overheard. With a sigh and a frown, he saw that Naruto had frozen with his hand on the doorknob. His gaze slowly turned to lock with the old Hokage's. Naruto's eyes flashed crimson, but quickly reverted to blue when there was a another, more impatient sounding, pound on the door.

Naruto opened the door to see the rookie nine, excluding Kiba and Sasuke who were still at the hospital, and the rookie nine's jonin senseis. Naruto opened his mouth to rudely tell them to go away, or ask why the hell they were here, when Sarutobi put his hand on Naruto's shoulder and raised his other hand in greeting to the mob on the other side of the doorjamb.

"Good afternoon," the Hokage started, motioning the crowd inside, "sit please. I have some important news that all of you need to know. It concerns one of you," at this statement Naruto's eyes widened. Then they hardened into a glare as he leaned up against the wall, all the space on the couch and chairs filled. Some of the genin were forced to sit on the floor, but they didn't mind much.

"Does this have anything to do with Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked out of the blue, nervous for some reason. Naruto's glare tightened on her. He growled deep in the back of his throat and Sakura flinched.

"No! It doesn't have anything to do with you precious 'Sasuke-kun'!" he spat out in an overly mocking and sarcastic tone of voice. Sakura's eyes started to water and Naruto turned his head in disgust. The rookies were shocked an Naruto's callous treatment of Sakura, seeing as he had a crush on her. Kakashi alone knew the source of the Kyuubi boy's anger.

Sarutobi continued after everyone's surprise wore off. "No, Naruto is right, this does not have to do with Uchiha Sasuke. Rather, it has everything to do with Hyuuga Hinata. She is in the hospital right now, as you all probably know, and I have just received updates on her condition. She-" he was cut off by Naruto's abrupt shout.

"She's dying okay? Hinata-chan's dying. Neji screwed up her heart and lungs so bad that the med-nin here can't fix her. She's got about three months," he bit out, angry at himself and the rest of the world.

There was utter silence in the room. Ino's mouth had dropped open and her eyes filled with tears. Sakura looked down at the floor, sobbing quietly. Shikamaru had put his hand into his classic 'thinking position' as if trying to figure a solution to this cruel development. Chouji had frozen and the chips in his hand, currently on a path to his mouth, fell out of his loose fingers. Shino became rigid and his hands balled into fists. Naruto was up against the wall still, clenched fingers digging into his palms painfully. Kakashi's visible eye widened and he sat back on the couch. Kurenai burst into tears because she saw Hinata as a daughter. Asuma turned to comfort the crying jonin after taking out his cigarette and snuffing it out. The Hokage looked very distressed and he shook his head sadly. Naruto looked up and surveyed the rest of the room's reaction.

"Stop crying," he told them roughly. Everyone looked at him, again shocked by his insensitive statement. "She's not going to die, I'm going to save her. So stop all of your crying," he said, a look of familiar determination on his face. Sakura got angry at this and she stood up quickly. The pinkette stalked over to Naruto and grabbed Naruto's shirt collar roughly.

"And how the hell are YOU going to save her, when trained medic ninja can't?!" she yelled angrily, pulling back her fist to punch him over the head. As it sped towards him, he decided that he really didn't like Sakura all that much.

Catching her fist, he glared hard at her. "I'm going to leave the village after the Chuunin exam finals and find Tsunade, the legendary Sannin. She's the best medical ninja ever. I'm going to find her and bring her back here and she's going to heal Hina-chan. I'm going to save her Sakura. You had better believe it," he stated solemnly. She looked disbelievingly for a moment, but slowly let go of his shirt. He relaxed and started to lean back on the wall but Sakura whipped around and delivered her punch unexpectedly. Naruto hit the wall behind him and sunk to the floor.

"Idiot! Why wait until after the Chunin exams, then?! Why not leave now, while Hinata is still breathing?!" she yelled angrily. She looked at Naruto and put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot. Naruto looked up at her tiredly. There was a trickle of blood running from the corner of his mouth.

"I have to beat Neji," he told the enraged girl. All eh got for the trouble was a foot to the head. He flew sideways and landed on the floor in a heap.

"So it's about revenge! You're going to waste time looking for Hinata's savior because of revenge?! How stupid can you be Naruto?!" Sakura shouted, striding towards Naruto, ready to deliver more pain if the boy's answer displeased her. In the background the rest of the ninja looked on in sadness and shock. Sakura was being very brutal to a Naruto that seemed very shook up about Hinata's imminent death.

"Yes! I swore to her that I'd beat him, and I will! You can't go back on a blood oath! I don't go back on m-" he was cut off again as Sakura kicked him in the side.

"You're so stupid Naruto! You think you can beat him just because you say you can?! He's a genius! Hinata's going to die because you want to live out some glory!" she screamed, tears flowing down her face. The other genin gasped. That he was doing this just for himself was an absurd idea! He always fought for others, always! The Hokage himself looked very surprised at the Haruno's statement. Naruto was a selfless individual.

Everyone froze as a sharp burst of killing intent came from the boy as he slowly pushed himself of the floor. Naruto's eyes were blazing red and he wiped the blood from his lips. He bared his teeth and growled at Sakura, Kyuubi finally taking hold of his mind.

"**How dare you let her treat you like that! Treat ****us**** like that! You are so weak! Just let me take care of her!"** Kyuubi ranted, pacing in front of his cage. Naruto shook his head.

'_I like her Kyuubi-baka. I'm not going to hurt her,'_ the boy stated stubbornly, crossing his arms. Inside his mindscape they heard Sakura's voice, coming in through Naruto's ears. Her statement of: 'HINATA'S GOING TO DIE BECAUSE YOU WANT TO LIVE OUT SOME GLORY!' echoed through his head and Naruto snapped.

'_WHAT?! I'm doing this for Hina-chan! Not for some stupid prize, or trophy, or a pat on the back!'_ he yelled. He balled up his fists and roared in his mind.

"**I'll deal with that insolent bitch, kit. Don't you worry,"** Kyuubi said softly, reaching out with his chakra and grasping Naruto. The boy was so lost in anger that he either didn't notice, or didn't care.

Kyuubi-Naruto in the real world growled at Sakura and she quickly backed up. The voice that came from him was more gravely than usual; more that of Kyuubi's voice than the boy's.

"_**Stupid girl! I'm not doing this to live out some childish fantasy! Not to win a trophy or get a pat on the back!" **_Kyuubi-Naruto quoted the original Naruto from earlier, _**"I'm doing this to save my Hina-chan! I need to save her so she doesn't die! But, I swore to her and to myself that I would avenge her! If I fail to… if I fail to get to Tsunade in time, than I at least need her to know that Neji paid for what he did!"**_ the feral boy snarled. Sakura was crying by this point. She could now see the traces of blood on his face and mouth and realized how much she hurt him; and how much he was affected by Hinata's doom.

'_I…I n-never meant to hurt him! I just… just wanted him to see that he was being an idiot again!'_ Sakura wailed in her mind.

Inner Sakura, though, had different feelings on the matter.

'_**HOW DARE HE BE SO CONCERNED ABOUT THAT WHITE-EYED FREAK! SHE STUTTERS, BLUSHES, AND IS PLAIN IN COMPARISON TO OUR BEAUTY!'**_ she raged. Sakura was confused by her Inner's reaction.

'_We aren't jealous. I don't love Naruto. Hinata could have had him, no problem, if she was going to live,"_ she argued.

Inner Sakura snorted. _**'WELL, **__**YOU**__** DON'T LOVE HIM, MAYBE, OR AT LEAST DON'T REALIZE IT, BUT LOOK AT HIM! HE'S SMOKING HOT WHEN HE'S BEING STRONG LIKE THIS!'**_she pointed out. Sakura rolled her mental eyes.

In reality, though, she didn't notice the demon-Naruto tense up his muscles in preparation for a pounce. He was going to leap onto Sakura and try to rip her throat out. He bunched up his leg muscles and leapt into the air. As he was in the air on his short distance to Sakura, the Hokage and the Jonin blurred into action. Kakashi grabbed Naruto from behind, Kurenai stood in front of Sakura, Asuma held Naruto's wrists, and the Hokage pulled out a seal designed to repress Kyuubi's chakra; made shortly after Kakashi's report of a seal leak that occurred in the Land of Waves. Naruto dropped to the floor with a thud.

The genin looked at Naruto. Then they looked at each other. Then they looked at the Hokage.

_**THUD.**_

Sakura did a Hinata and hit the ground, out cold.

**Authors note (again) POLL! please go to my page and read the new poll about this story! your input is needed!**


	3. Chapter 3

The smell of antiseptic reeked in the air and the bright lights were harsh as Uzumaki Naruto opened his eyes into them. His head was pounding, his stomach hurt, and he felt like he just got his ass kicked. What had happened?

He sat up in the hospital bed, blinking and rubbing his aching head. There was a pulsing coming from his stomach. It was quite uncomfortable, so he lifted up his shirt to inspect it. To his surprise, there was a paper seal plastered to it that seemed to be the source of the pulses. He carefully lifted up one corner of it, and tore it off. Tossing it across the room, he threw his head back as a rushing sensation emanated from his gut. His breath left him in a gasp and the pounding in his head, as well as his other pains, left him. Only to be replaced by a deep, gravelly voice.

"**Grr! I hate seals! Those seals will be the death of me!"** the Kyuubi roared out. Slowly the memories of the past day started to reform in Naruto's mind. He remembered Sakura hitting him, her insulting him, her kicking him across the room. He remembered Kyuubi taking control for a short minute before the Hokage put that damned seal on his stomach. Then he remembered Hinata.

"Hinata-chan!" he shouted out loud, tearing the covers from on top of himself. He yanked himself out of the medical wires and burst from the room. He followed his nose and found a faint lavender odor over the smell of medicine. The scent led in a trail and was strongest outside a room on the fourth floor. This was the intensive care floor, if he remembered correctly. His eagerness ebbed as he slowly opened the door and crept into the room.

Hinata lay in the middle of the room, surrounded by machines and tubes. She was, of course, asleep. It was estimated that she wouldn't wake up for at least anther month. Sadness surged through the Kyuubi container like a wave and he rushed forward. There were flowers and cards from her friends, but none of them were labeled from the Hyuuga. Naruto remembered the bear-masked ANBU from yesterday reporting that her family didn't even care that she was going to die. Anger flowed through him next, but it was fleeting as he grasped Hinata's hand gently. A tear slipped out of his eye and fell onto her hand. He clutched her hand tighter.

"Hinata-chan," he whispered, distraught. He had really screwed up this time. His left hand started to trace her face softly as he looked at her. She whimpered in her sleep as Naruto's hand rested on her shoulder. He let go and leapt backwards with a horrified expression. The container watched in apprehension as her face cleared and she remained in her coma.

'_I…I did it again. I-I hurt Hinata. I can't seem to be near her without her being hurt…'_ Naruto sighed in his mindscape.

"**Oh, give it a rest, kit! You didn't do anything! It was that boy, Hyuuga Neji, that hurt her! Just dispense justice, get that healer, and then you can do what ever you want to her!"** Kyuubi sighed and then grinned. Naruto turned crimson.

'_I… I…I wouldn't do anything like __that__ to Hinata-chan!'_ he stuttered. Kyuubi rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically, as if in exasperation.

"**Kit, you call her '****Hinata-chan' and are kind of possessive of her too, I might add,"** he told Naruto offhandedly. Naruto blushed even darker and opened his mouth to rebuff the demon, but Kyuubi cut him off. **"I guess that's just my influence, though. It's a kitsune thing, you know, like me. Each demon will choose a mate and must protect her at all costs for the rest of their lives. You seem to have made your choice,"** the demon explained, raising his eyebrows and grinning suggestively. Naruto's jaw dropped open.

'_I'm a fox demon?!'_ he shouted in shock. Kyuubi sighed once again, and Naruto walked closer to the cage.

"**I was going to wait awhile before telling you, but you need to know now,"** Kyuubi started seriously. **"Kit, your seal is designed to siphon off my power that flows into you constantly. As you grow older it will let more and more of your power into me. Originally it was supposed to wait until you were over 20 to completely fuse with me. But, kit, your seal is damaged. I managed to get that extra seal that Orochimaru-teme placed over the existing one off, but it broke some of the seal. **_(A/N thank you Hektols for reminding me about that!) _**Haven't you noticed that my chakra is coming forward more and more often? It's because the seal is slowly degenerating, letting more and more of me fuse with you. By the time you're fifteen, you should be a real kitsune demon, or at least a half-demon," **the Kyuubi explained sympathetically. Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing. Him, a real demon?

'_So, what the villagers say… will be true?'_ Naruto asked sullenly. Kyuubi just snorted.

"**Kit, you've always had at least some of my kitsune qualities. We are known for being pranksters and having the knack of transforming into beautiful women. We're also very loyal, like you are to your village,"** Kyuubi spoke, dryly, **"You have always been, at least in some ways, influenced by me"** Kyuubi explained. Naruto's eyes began to water so then he added frantically,** "But, that doesn't make you a bad person, per se. You're not the demon that all those villagers say that you are," **Naruto looked down in despair. He left the mental conversation with Kyuubi to return to his place next to Hinata. With one more thought, he fell asleep at her side.

'_Hinata-chan… I will do whatever I have to make sure that you are never, __ever__ hurt again. I swear,'_

During all this, there was an ANBU watching. Sarutobi placed Tori there, an ANBU with a bird mask, to watch and make sure that no one tried to hurt Hinata while she was incapacitated. He knew that if the Hyuuga knew that she was going to waste away in the hospital for three months, they would come to the hospital and eradicate the Main Branch's shame. The Hyuuga- and all higher class family's like that- were very predictable in this manner. Always wanting to get rid of weakness and failure. They let their pride blind them to the truth of things.

The ANBU was also told to alert the Hokage if Uzumaki Naruto were to enter her room. The tori ninja assumed that it was so the Kyuubi brat didn't hurt her, but in reality, the Sandaime had a way to help Naruto in the final round of the Chunin exams.

"Hokage-sama," the shinobi entered the room via window, "Uzumaki Naruto is, at this moment, in the hospital room of Hyuuga Hinata," he reported solemnly. The aging Hokage smiled.

"Could you bring him here please, Tori?" he asked, chuckling slightly. The ANBU nodded and disappeared from the room. Said ANBU re-appeared in Hyuuga Hinata's room.

The ninja's view of the Kyuubi container shifted when he came upon the sight of the boy asleep next to the Hyuuga heiress, his right hand gently holding her left one. The shinobi smiled under his mask, and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, lightly shaking him awake. The boy blearily opened his eyes and smiled at the sight of Hinata.

"Hinata-chan," he murmured, not fully awake yet and still not aware that the ANBU was right behind him. Tori shifted and coughed, he felt slightly uncomfortable for being here, interrupting this touching scene. Naruto shot up from the chair as he heard the bird ANBU cough to get his attention. The container spun around to face him and turned a bright red at being caught. He scratched the back of his head and grinned falsely, trying to cover up the fact that he was thoroughly embarrassed. "Uh… sorry, ANBU-san! I was… just… uh…" Naruto trailed off. The ninja held his hand up and lost his smile. It was his mission time now.

"Uzumaki Naruto, I have come to take you to the Hokage upon his orders," he stated. He then grabbed Naruto and leapt out the window.

"I'll be back Hinata!" Naruto yelled out behind him. Back towards the open window. Back towards the hospital. Back towards his Hina-chan.

Naruto had spent the last few days thinking about Hinata. Although not surprising, it was useful information, as he found out. He compared all of his current friends to Hinata and her to them. He gleaned a few valuable pieces of information out of this.

1) Hinata had never once, ever, made fun of him, or laughed at him, even if he had screwed up. Even Shikamaru had made comments about how Naruto was an idiot. And we all know that Sakura puts him down on a regular basis. But Hinata was different. She was really nice.

2) Hinata always seemed to blush and stutter around him. At first he thought it was out of fear; the whole village seemed to either hate or fear him, so it was a logical conclusion. But, not necessarily true. If she was scared, she wouldn't have been so kind.

3) Hinata wanted to help him. He'd always have to beg for help when he needed it, so it came as a shock to him when she- just a week ago at the beginning of the Chunin exams- tried to let him cheat off of her when she knew that, if they were caught, her whole team could be disqualified. She'd also given him a healing salve after his fight with her own teammate.

4) Hinata was strong. As opposed to Sakura, who almost never trained, she seemed to always be training. From what he had heard from Kiba before, she was determined to earn the respect of her father, who hated her.

5) Hinata was also alone. Naruto had just recently found out that none of her immediate family cared that she was slowly dying in a hospital room; from injuries inflicted by another family member. She too had known the loneliness of having everyone hate you or ignore you. Naruto himself felt very guilty because he had- unknowingly of course- added to that ignorance by never truly looking at his, 'dark, plain and weird' friend before.

And he was wrong.

He saw now that she was not dark, just shy. She wasn't plain, she was actually quite cute when she blushed. And she wasn't weird. She was just lonely. Lonely like him. And he was wrong.

When they got to the Hokage's office, Naruto was dropped roughly on the ground. The ANBU saluted, then disappeared once again. Naruto scowled and rubbed his head.

"What do you want? Want to put another seal on me?" he almost growled at the old Sandaime. The man sighed.

"Naruto, you were going to rip your own teammate's throat out," he reminded the angry container calmly. Naruto just snorted.

"Yeah, it would've been an improvement," he mumbled, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes in frustration. Sarutobi sighed and ignored the comment before pressing on.

"Naruto, I've found you someone to help you train for the upcoming Chunin final exams," he started. The boy's face lit up with a smile. For the first time in days he looked excited, back to his old self again. After a moment, though, his smile dropped and a crestfallen look passed across his face.

"Kakashi-sensei is going to train Sasuke, isn't he?" he asked quietly; dejectedly. Sarutobi frowned and nodded. After another minute Naruto just shrugged his shoulders and sighed again. "I should've known. Oh well. He's treated Sasuke-teme with favoritism before, why not now?" he stared at the ground. Then he looked up and the Hokage with a weak smile. "Well, you've got another tutor anyway, huh? So, who is it?"

Again, Sarutobi smiled. "He's one of my students. One of the legendary Sannin, a toad sage, and the sensei of the Yondaime," he announced. Naruto looked excited again, and the turned around quickly, just in time to see the large oak door burst open.

"Hello ladies!"

_(Tora: Ha ha ha! Cliffhanger no jutsu! _

_Kurotora: Baka! You can't just type less than three pages! Onward you lazy bitch! _

_Tora: [after a blow to the head] Okay…)_

The man that had rudely broke into the room was tall and had long white hair. He wore a red vest and an odd hitai-ate with the kanji for oil on it. He had two red lines from the corner of his eyes extending to the bottom of his chin.

"Hello sensei! It's your old pupil Jiraiya,, come home! I have conquered the land and gathered many a great tale in my quests!" he shouted dramatically. Naruto sweat dropped. He raised his eyebrows in skepticism.

"This is the great Sannin, teacher of the Yondaime, and a toad sage? He looks more like a pervert to me," Naruto said dryly. Hiruzen grimaced.

'_You caught on to that whole 'pervert' thing already, huh?'_ the Hokage thought with a sigh. This might be even harder than he had originally guessed. Jiraiya too, looked like he was going to interfere with the Sandaime's brilliant plan. He was looking at Naruto with unabashed weariness. As though just Naruto's presence wore him out.

"Naruto," the old man started, sending a look towards Jiraiya, who's eyes widened at the name, "this is indeed my student, Jiraiya. I would like for him to train you for the Chunin exams," Naruto opened his mouth to complain, but the Hokage cut him off, "He taught the Yondaime, Naruto. Wouldn't someone who did that be able to train you too? He's knows the Rasengan and all of Minato's other jutsu," he explained. Jiraiya's jaw dropped, but not for the reason that Hiruzen thought. It was for the reason that even the Kyuubi boy questioned.

"Who's Minato?" he asked plainly. The Hokage flinched and mentally berated himself for revealing the fourth Hokage's real first name. He tried not to let that show though. He cleared his voice and coughed twice.

"Um… that's the Yondaime's first name. Minato," he reluctantly explained. The boy immediately started to bounce up and down in excitement.

"You know it?! What's his last name? Come on, old man! You've gotta tell me!" he shouted. Jiraiya had, by this point, walked forward to stand behind Naruto. He conked the young man on the head roughly.

"Shut up, shrimp. The Yondaime's name is classified. Why should the third here tell you the fourth's true name?" Jiraiya dismissed Naruto brusquely. The container's head dropped. Jiraiya had meant that the Hokage would never tell a kid; but to Naruto, all it sounded like 'We'd never tell a demon'.

'_Even the Hokage's apprentice thinks I'm a demon! When will anybody accept me?!'_ he mentally screamed. Sarutobi saw the sudden depression in Naruto's mood and guessed the probable cause. He asked Naruto politely if he and Jiraiya could talk privately for a minute. The boy just nodded sullenly. As soon as he was out of sight, the Hokage's pupil whipped around to glare at his master.

"Telling a child Minato's real name! Are you crazy?" he shouted at the old man. The Sandaime sighed.

"Jiraiya, you have just hurt your godchild very deeply," he admonished softly. The toad sannin's eyes widened.

"So, I was right then? That was Minato's son right there?" he asked quietly, head bent, looking at the floor. The hokage sighed.

"You know it is. He is the Yondaime's carbon copy, though his personality is more like Kushina's. He cares deeply for all his friends and would protect them with his life. His name is a tribute to you, Jiraiya. You are that boy's godfather. Who else would Minato seal the Kyuubi in, but his own son? He wouldn't ask that of another family. And he believed that Naruto could handle it. His last wish was to make sure that Naruto was to be seen as a hero," the old Hokage explained Naruto's heritage. Jiraiya, startled, stepped back from the man. He then sighed and smiled deeply.

"Oh. Well if that's the case, then I'm kind of glad that I left. I wouldn't have wanted him to become un-cool with his 'pervy' godparent," Jiraiya chuckled weakly. Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned. He glanced towards his pupil, but very quickly resumed his study of the floor.

"No," he spoke firmly, shocking Jiraiya, "though that was the fourth's final wish, he has not been 'cool'. He has not been loved. He has not even been liked. This village has hated that boy and made him a pariah among all his peers and fellow citizens. He was kicked out of the orphanage that he was put in at the age of ten. He was beaten and shunned regularly, especially on his birthday; the night of the Kyuubi festival," the Sandaime sighed as he described Naruto's life up until this point.

The Toad Sannin was floored. He had thought that when he returned, he would find Minato's little boy in protective custody or under surveillance, or even adopted into a new family. He couldn't have possibly prepared himself for this. "Even so," Hiruzen continued, "he was a bright and happy boy, always playing pranks and trying to be noticed. He never once fought back against the villagers. He doesn't even hate them. He instead has decided to become Hokage and prove his worth to the village. When he learned about the Kyuubi -which was an S-class secret, by the way, never to be told to Naruto or any of his generation- he was saved by his teacher Iruka. He mastered the kagebunshin no jutsu in one night. He defended his teacher, even when he was told that he was monster. He always has tried to protect Konoha.

He then went on to become a Genin. He was placed under Hatake Kakashi, though he shows favoritism toward the Uchiha on his team, Sasuke. Naruto had a crush on his other teammate, Haruno Sakura, but, since he tried to rip her throat out the other day, I have a feeling that his infatuation has ended," the Hokage said with a chuckle. The Super-Pervert's eyes bugged out of his head.

"He tried to kill one of his teammates?! How is the seal? Is she okay? Is he?" Jiraiya shot questions at his old sensei like senbon. The Hokage laughed again.

"You just saw him, Jiraiya, he's fine. The seal is holding but, for some reason, Kyuubi's chakra and his own are mixing faster than anticipated. Let me explain this deal with the girl to you. Sakura, like most girls in the village, are quite taken with the local 'heartthrob' Uchiha Sasuke. The same one as on Naruto's team. So, whenever Naruto asks Sakura out on dates or the like, she hits him. Quite hard as I've seen," he admitted, frowning again.

"Yesterday, when I was explaining something to all of the Rookie 9 and their senseis, minus Inuzuka Kiba and Uchiha Sasuke, Naruto said something that upset the pink haired girl. So, she hit him, kicked him, and beat him until there was blood coming from his mouth. Of course, Kyuubi's demon chakra reacts to anger and rage, and Naruto kind of transformed. His nails and teeth lengthened while his whisker-marks deepened and his eyes turned red and slitted. He jumped at her, but I put a seal that repressed Kyuubi's chakra on him. He was knocked out and only woke up about an hour ago," he finished.

Jiraiya just stood there, taking in all in. This boy… this boy that should've been treated like a hero… beaten by his teammate… abused by the village… it was awful. "But… but… what did he say to make her want to hurt him that bad?" he asked sadly. The Sandaime looked at him tiredly. He then sighed and covered his eyes with his hand.

"With Sakura, often nothing, but this time? He told the group that he was going after Tsunade," the old man heaved another sigh.

Jiraiya gasped. "And why the hell would he want to do that?! Tsunade would never come back to the village of her own free will! She hates it here!" he screeched. Hiruzen looked confused, but then his expression cleared.

"Oh, I seem to be leaving out a character in this little drama. There is one girl who does like Naruto," he smiled, "Hyuuga Hinata. She's the heiress of her clan, but is horribly shy and has a severe confidence problem. Her whole clan thinks that she's unfit to be clan head, and her father hates her because she so resembles her late mother. Her sister, Hanabi, looks more like him and is more of a natural fighter; while Hinata is more suited for the healing arts. But, her cousin Neji hates her most of all. Due to some incident with his main branch father and his twin, Hiashi, Hinata's father, Neji lost his faith in the world and is convinced that he's fated to serve the main branch forever; serve Hinata forever, even when he sees himself as the superior Hyuuga. And he kind of is. His Byakugan is the most advanced at his age then any we've seen in a long while," he once again explained a child's back-story to the clueless Jiraiya.

"Therefore, Hinata's world has been a little dark since the death of her mother. To her, Naruto is a beacon of light in a cold world. He's everything she wants to be; confident, persevering, and always able to smile. She adores him for those qualities and has kind of been watching him all of her life, since the very first day of the ninja academy," he shrugged.

Jiraiya's head was spinning at this overload of information. Hyuuga Hinata was a very interesting girl, to say the least. For Konoha's strongest clan's heiress to fall in love with the village outcast who holds the Leaf's greatest foe, Kyuubi no Kitsune, was a strange twist indeed.

"But what does any of this have to do with Tsunade?" he asked, still wondering about her possible involvement.

"Well, you see, in the preliminary rounds of the Chunin exams, about two days ago, Hinata and Neji were paired up as opponents," the Sandaime sighed.

"Oh no," the Sannin breathed.

"Yes," he nodded sadly, "she was beaten. Neji landed a hit to her heart and she collapsed. Here's where Naruto comes in. He'd been cheering her on the whole batch because Neji started it by verbally terrorizing Hinata. Calling her a failure, a worthless loser, all that. Naruto couldn't stand to see one of his friends ridiculed so he cheered for her. When she collapsed that first time, Hayate was going to call the match, but Naruto stopped him. He was hit by sakura and Kakashi told him that it was cruel to make Hinata keep fighting. But Hinata got back up anyway. After a brief exchange of words, Neji's anger was restored and he unexpectedly charged one more time. Though the match was over, the boy's final attack, another Jyuuken to the heart, hit Hinata and she was technically dead for over five minutes. They brought her back, just barely, but the whole area on and around her heart is mutilated and she won't last more than three months. Naruto feels responsible because, he says, that if he'd let her stop fighting the first time, she wouldn't be dying.

Don't tell Naruto, but they've already replaced her heart and left lung, but the lasting damage of the Jyuuken -the foreign chakra in her body- will also tear those new ones apart by the time her three months are up," he admitted dejectedly. The Toad Sannin was crushed to learn that his godchild felt responsible for this horrible tragedy. That he…

They were cut off by a sob.

Unbeknownst to the two older Kage-level ninja, Naruto had been listening to their whole conversation. Kyuubi had showed him how to mask his chakra effectively, and used some of his fox chakra to enhance the boy's hearing. Since they had started to talk about Hinata, Naruto had been gasping quietly. He had held fast to the hope that, maybe without Tsunade, if they just replaced the damaged organs, Hinata would live. Now, it seemed, all the responsibility -Hinata's whole life- rested on Naruto's shoulders. And those of Senju Tsunade.

He had been shocked to learn that the Yondaime was his dad, but after thinking it over and hearing what the Sandaime had to say about it, it made sense to him. He had been angry for awhile, but he reasoned that, as the Hokage, it was only natural that he wouldn't ask any other family to behold such a burden but his own. But Hinata… it was so sad. How could her dad hate her just because she looked like her mother? It was monstrous! And he knew… he knew that Kyuubi wouldn't help this time. Normally, he could rely on the beast for some advice, but the demon was silent. Stunned.

The door behind him opened to reveal Jiraiya looking at him tiredly.

"Hey, kid," he said gruffly. Naruto looked up at him.

"What?" Naruto snarled. This was his godfather that just left him alone in this awful village to be preyed upon by the spiteful and fearful villagers. Jiraiya flinched.

"Look, I'm sorry about leaving you. If I had known… I never would've left. Or, at the very least, I would've come back sooner. And I'm sorry about your Hyuuga friend, but-" he was cut off by Naruto.

"Don't talk about her like that!" he screamed. Jiraiya stepped back. He knew that Kyuubi's chakra was unstable when the boy was angry. He held up his hands defensively.

"What?" he whined slightly. This just stirred up Naruto's anger more.

"Don't talk about Hinata-chan like she's just another Hyuuga! She's different! She's not some stuck-up asshole!" the container shouted, shaking in fury. Jiraiya sighed.

"I'm sorry. I know she's different. But, if you'd let me, I'll make up for leaving you," eh offered.

Naruto froze and his face twisted out of one of rage and into one of confusion. "What you could you possibly do?" he asked dully.

"Well, duh!" the old pervert laughed, holding up a thumbs up, "I'm gonna teach you you're father's old jutsu! The Rasengan!"

**_Author's Note: NEW POLL! :D_**


	4. Author's Note Sorry!

I feel like such a bad person! I'm so sorry for sending this author's note! Normally when I get a 'Chapter Update' that turns out just to be a stupid note like this one, I get angry.

Please don't get angry!

Okay, I've got to focus.

I've got five minutes to write and then post this!

Here's the deal, **my laptop's broken**!

I think I have a nasty virus, but the point is, after approximately five minutes of being on, it crashes! I can't work on it because I keep losing my work! It won't save without crashing, and **I've tried to start the new chapter over 5 times**! I'm so frustrated!!!!

Thank you for waiting, I heart all of you!!!

P.S. the results of the previous poll were reeeaaally close. **18 to 20**. Unfortunately, you all voted that **I not kill Neji.** So, I guess I'll just have to figure out something…. (I'll probably wake up Hinata early! Spoiler!)

And some of you have requested that **I tone down Naruto's feelings**… saying they happened toooo quickly. And I agree. **I'll try to control them more**!!

Thank You! (This is the **third time** I wrote this note. I wasn't fast enough the first few times **-_-;**)


	5. Chapter 4

"Tell me again why I have to do this?" Naruto asked his sensei Jiraiya. The older man smacked his forehead once more.

Naruto and Jiraiya were standing at the edge of a large river next to a raging waterfall. It was hot this day and that only seemed to add to Jiraiya's frustration. Naruto was trying, futilely, to blow up a water balloon with his chakra. Jiraiya had already explained it to the boy, but he tried again using different words.

"To fully use the Rasengan, you need to know how to mold the chakra properly, add the right amount of force, and then learn to sustain it. This is the first step. To burst the balloon you have to learn how to spin your chakra," he said, using careful wording and slow speech. Naruto wasn't dumb, per se, but he was a tad bit slow on the uptake, so Jiraiya was halfway fed up with this whole 'mentoring' thing. But he had faith in this boy; he had an air about him. One of determination and endless courage. That, and the boy's heritage and striking resemblance to Minato helped.

Realization dawned across Naruto's face. "Oh! I get it now! This boring, menial crap is just practice for the better thing to come!" Naruto grinned. Jiraiya gave the thumbs up. He felt the pride well up in him as he looked at his god son happily.

"That's the idea! Now get to it!" He yelled, vanishing in a puff of smoke and swirling leaves.

"Let's do it!" the boy shouted, throwing his hand up in the air. Enthusiasm restored, he set about his task again with renewed vigor.

He quietly slid open the door to Hyuuga Hinata's hospital room and crept in. It was cool in the hospital room and he was grateful to be out of the sun. But the smell wasn't pleasant as antiseptic and the sharp scent of blood pierced the air. He once again took a seat next to her bedside. She was pale, deathly so, but he tried to not to let it get to him. Her hair splayed out around her in a fan as she lay motionless, but still breathing.

"Hey Hinata-chan," he said, smiling gently as he did every day, as he had every day for the past week, "I've been learning how to do the Rasengan, my father's prized jutsu. I think I'm starting to get it, more and more each day," he said grinning weakly.

His mind slipped into another reality. He could almost imagine her face flush like it always did, her shy smile, and her stuttering reply, 'T-that's gr-great Naruto-k-kun,'

But she didn't smile or blush and he just sat there in silence for a minute.

"_Hinata… why didn't I see you before?"_ He asked himself sadly. One lazy eye opened from inside the jail cell of Naruto's mind. Kyuubi, from behind the spiritual iron bars that held him in, snorted.

"**You were too busy watching that Haruno girl to notice the white-eyes, kit,"** he said derisively. Naruto shot a glare at the demon.

_"Yes, Kyuubi-no-baka, I noticed that,"_ he spat. Kyuubi shrugged his giant shoulders sarcastically.

**"Sorry,"** he drawled, **"you asked,"** he pointed out condescendingly. Naruto turned away in anger.

_"Doesn't mean you have to answer,"_ he snarled.

Kyuubi's reply was cut off by the door opening sharply to show Jiraiya standing there with a gentle expression. The blond jinchuuriki gazed up at his mentor with questioning eyes. The old man heaved a sigh and took a seat on the windowsill, staring out vaguely at the setting sun. It painted red and gold across the sky.

"Naruto," he started slowly, "it seems to me that you feel something for this girl," he pointed out. Naruto narrowed his eyes suspiciously and shrugged.

"Why wouldn't I like her? She's smart and sweet and shy and nice to me," he told Jiraiya deliberately and clearly. Jiraiya sighed again and beckoned Naruto over. The boy gave a grudging look, but came over anyway. He was met by an arm being slung around his shoulders.

"Naruto," the old man started again, "I want you to ask yourself why you think these things about her," Naruto opened his mouth to object but Jiraiya held a hand up, "Think very carefully. Is it because you truly think these things and she truly possesses them, or is it because she likes you? You Naruto, you've been alone your whole life, never feeling any emotion of love from an outside source. This is your chance, Naruto. This girl, you now know that she's had feelings for you for years. And I know that you don't want to screw it up, but don't think she's something that she's not. I've seen many cases on my travels of people so enamored by feelings they can't control, that they bestow traits upon the person that they are feeling these feelings for. Don't let it do that to you, Naruto. You're going way too fast, boy. Feelings don't grow in a day. She is what she is. She loves you, but she's not perfect. If she loves you then she also knows that you're not either. And she doesn't seem to care," he smiled, drawing the boy in for a hug.

During the speech, Naruto's eyes had grown wider as the pervy sage tried to falter his logic for liking Hinata. But, then he re-evaluated his feelings.

Ero-sennin was right, people's affection didn't foster in one day and one night. He furrowed his brow in thought and came to a conclusion.

For the time being, he'd be Naruto: dense, loud, and persistent. And she could be Hinata: shy, quiet, (for now) comatose, and caring. He realized that he didn't even have to tell her that he knew. The blond boy decided that he'd just sit back, be himself, let her be herself, and let nature take its course.

Sure, he was still going after Tsunade, and he was still going to kick Neji's ass in the finals, but he didn't have to marry her. He'd just wait until he felt the moment was right, until he knew that his feelings were real, to lift her onto his shoulders and carry her away with him.

And then everyone would be happy.

Jiraiya smiled as he saw the realizations slink across Naruto's face. He thought that the boy really didn't have the disease that he'd described that badly, he didn't seem to think that this 'Hinata' was everything and more; just that she was more than she was before.

"Well, Naruto," he said loudly, jolting Naruto out of his self-contemplation, "if you're going to finish that Rasengan before the Chuunin matches at the end of the month then you better get on it!" Jiraiya declared before poofing away. Naruto pumped his fist in to the air.

"Yeah!" he shouted. His eyes fell on Hinata and they softened. Making his way over to her bed he whispered goodbye. He kissed Hinata tenderly on the forehead and exited quietly.


	6. Chapter 5

**(Author's Note) Oh yes! Here it is! The long-awaited chapter 5 of 'I'll Never Let Them Take You'! I'm so sorry that it's been so long! To make up for the wait, I've decided to make an extra long chapter, AND I'm skipping forward a month, and this is the fights for the Chuunin exams! Yeah, son! Here we go! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But it'd be beast if I did.**

**  
**

The sun streamed through the windows of a young Genin's room and filtered through his eyelids. He stirred into consciousness, and blinked hard in the pale dawn light, with a mix of dreams and nightmares fleeing from the corner of his mind. Dark circles were slightly visible under his eyes and he rubbed them with a sleepy hand. He slouched out of bed, but ultimately tripped on his sheets. He tumbled to the floor with a curse. Pushing himself off the floor and mumbling to himself, still half asleep, he shambled towards his kitchen.

The light painted the sky pink as the sun was just peeking over the horizon. He blearily filled up a cup of ramen and tossed it in the microwave. He pulled out a carton of milk and took a large chug straight out of the jug… before spitting out the spoiled dairy into the sink. More awake now, he glanced at the calendar in the kitchen and absently noticed the date written there. As the microwave beeped, breaking the silence, he shuffled over to retrieve his ramen. The steaming noodles brought him out of an half-aware state, and when he took the first bite, the date finally set in and he nearly spit out his ramen. He shot out of his chair and it clattered to the floor with a startling crash. He rushed over to his calendar and stood in front of it, staring with widening eyes.

Jiraiya's recent excruciating training had left him utterly exhausted when he went to bed and a little out of it when he woke up, so at first glance, he hadn't noticed that the day's date had been circled at least a dozen times in red marker. Rokugatsu nijuuichinichi. The 21st of June, a.k.a. day of the final stage of the Chuunin exams. Naruto gave a shout of surprise and raced back to his seat. In record time he slurped down the rest of his ramen. He bolted back to his bed and threw himself to the floor. Because the room was covered with scrolls and empty ramen cups, he had to push through junk to get through. He kept his clothes in storage underneath his bed. He yanked out the container and ransacked his drawers for a suitable outfit.

Although Ero-Sennin had one of the worst fashion senses Naruto had ever known, he didn't want the young jinchuuriki to wear his completely orange jumpsuit anymore. Although Naruto protested greatly, he couldn't argue with the fact that he was only trying to look out for Naruto. He said that the orange was only a distraction and made it easier to spot him in the forest. The young shinobi tried to defend that he was only trying to test himself, but the Sannin wasn't having any of that talk. Naruto had scuffed his foot against the floor in an embarrassed manner and admitted that he only had some boxers, some black t-shirts, a more formal, black funeral attire, one or two pairs of the orange pants, and just the one orange jacket. Jiraiya's eyes had softened and he had said that Naruto didn't need to redo his whole outfit, just diminish the amount of orange on his person.

So today, he just pulled on some orange pants and a black t shirt with an orange spiral on the front. He strapped his kunai holster to his leg and his shuriken pouch to the back of his pants. Going over to the mirror he tied his headband almost reverently around his head, holding back his hair. Without glancing back, Naruto sprinted out of the apartment, locking the door behind him.

It was still early. The sun was still just slipping over the horizon, and even though Naruto wanted to get to the arena as soon as possible… he still had his daily visit to complete. He changed his course and headed for the hospital like he did every morning to see how Hyuuga Hinata was faring.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The only sound in the white room was the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor. Hinata lay on the bed in the middle of the room, with orange sunlight filtering through the windows onto her deathly pale face. Naruto's face softened at the vulnerable look that radiated off the incapacitated kunoichi. Today, Naruto thought he could glimpse a slightly rosier complexion on the Hyuuga heiress. Her dark hair was longer than it had been when she had first gotten hurt, and it fell around her face because of the fan. 'It shone more lustrously today than yesterday,' the boy thought. He sat in the chair next to the girl's bed and stared at her. Was it him… or did her skin seem less clammy today? It cheered him to think that she was improving more and more every day.

The sun floated higher in the sky as the young jinchuuriki observed Hinata, still and asleep in her hospital bed. He took her hand lightly at one point and squeezed it gently.

"Hey Hinata," he whispered into the air. To his shock, at that greeting the heart monitor sped up drastically. Blood rushed into the girl's cheeks just as Naruto remembered and he grinned. She stirred. The Uzumaki leaned forward, eyes wide. Was this… was she waking up?

Hinata moved her limbs lightly before struggling to open her blurry eyes. They felt heavy. She felt tired and her chest ached horribly. Still, she opened her tired eyes to see Uzumaki Naruto sitting next to her bed. She blushed and her eyes widened as she noticed he was holding her hand. She looked directly at his face and his face split into a wide grin. He beamed at her and squeezed her hand tightly.

"Hinata! You're awake!" he shouted, overjoyed. Eyes still wide, she nodded slowly. He chuckled and let go of her hand. "You can talk, ya know? Your vocal cords weren't damaged," he teased. She blushed a dark red and opened her mouth tentatively. He helped her as she struggled to sit up on the hospital bed, noticing the pain that flew across her face.

"N-Na-Naruto-k-kun," she stuttered, her voice hoarse with disuse. Looking around, he noticed a pitcher and glass of water on her bedside table. He filled her a glass of cold water and handed it to her.

"Here, you sound like you need this," he said, still beaming. She blushed darker and took it from him gently. She took a few sips before braking off with a series of harsh, racking coughs. Naruto came closer and put his arms around her back. "Hey, you alright?" he asked, trying to soothe her. His hand on her back rubbed in a large circle, trying to relax her painful spasms. She nodded as the coughing diminished and he stepped back.

"T-thank you, N-Naruto-kun," she said quietly. His eyes grew serious as he sat down again. She looked at him, a little alarmed by his expression.

"D-Do you remember anything?" he asked, trying to be gentle about the question. She flinched anyway, though, her mind going back a month to what must have been just a moment for her. She looked down and nodded. His slight, hopeful smile faded away. "Oh, you do?" he whispered. She nodded slowly again. Her eyes flickered away for a minute before meeting his. Her hands, of their own volition, started to twine together and she started to fiddle with her fingers. Her teeth lightly bit down on her lower lip before she cleared her throat again.

"Uh, N-Naruto-kun?" she muttered, getting his attention. She looked down at her fingers bashfully. "D-do you think I… ch-changed?" Hinata asked, her words diminishing towards the end. The blonde jinchuuriki looked a little shocked before his face broke into a grin.

"Of course I think you did Hinata!" he reassured her almost instantly. Her face flushed and she smiled shyly. The Hyuuga bit her lip again and tried to break down his reasoning. She didn't understand why he was acknowledging her. She had lost, right?

"B-but I lost!" she stuttered loudly. Well, loudly for Hinata. His grin quieted into a real smile. He patted her clasped hands.

"That doesn't matter. You had the strength to get up even though you were beaten down so many times," he told her. Her hands unclasped themselves and she latched on to the hand that had rested on top of hers.

_'Only because of you, Naruto-kun! Only because you had the strength to believe in me.'_ She thought to herself, desperate for the nerve to say that out loud. Naruto continued.

"You had the courage to stand up to a bully that had to tear you down mentally before he fought you," he congratulated her. The Genin's expression suddenly darkened considerably. "A bully that I'm going to tear down physically," he growled lowly. He gripped her hand hard, suddenly.

"Naruto-kun," the heiress murmured. He looked at her, his eyes flashing a dark crimson for a moment. She clenched his hand in a vain attempt to comfort him. "N-Naruto-kun, what do you mean? W-what are you going to do to N-N-Neji-nii-s-san?" she asked in a rush. Naruto noticed with a scowl how she tripped over Neji's name more than the rest.

"I'm going to beat him in the last stage of the Chuunin exams. He's my opponent," he stated. He frowned deeply, as Hinata's eyes flew open wide as she noticed the dark glimmer deep in the Uzumaki's eye. She pushed herself up further, trying to get off the bed. She had almost sat up on her knees before abruptly pitching forward. Naruto caught her before she tumbled to the floor and tried to make her lie back down but her hands clutched at the material of his shirt, her eyes still as large as dinner plates.

"D- don't k-k-kill him!" she shouted hastily. Her eyes started to tear up. The heart monitor went crazy. A few doctors came thundering down the hallway. Naruto gently laid her back down on the bed and held down her shoulders. In her weakened state, her damaged lungs were greatly overreacting and her breathing was going wild. The blonde shinobi didn't really know how to react so he just rubbed up and down her arms and mumbled nonsense words. The doctors burst into the room and he was shoved aside.

Doctors were suddenly all around, yelling at him, asking him what was going on and what had he'd done. Then he was violently pushed into the hallway, the door slammed in his face. He stood there for a few moments before taking a seat on a bench in the hall. He was absolutely fuming. Why'd they shove him out? He was only trying to help! And it wasn't even his fault! He'd only said that Neji was his opponent, and Hinata freaked, thinking that he'd kill him! Now, it wasn't to say he wasn't but…

**"Are you going to?"** a dark voice echoed in his head. He snarled audibly, Kyuubi again.

_"Am I going to what, furball?"_ he asked sarcastically, appearing in his mindscape, crossing his arms. He stood in front of the Kyuubi's cage.

**"Kill the boy. Your mate has requested you not kill, will you comply?"** he asked, laying down on the floor of the mindscape. He yawned, flashing gigantic canines. Naruto looked down at his feet, contemplating.

_"I'll have to discuss it with her further. If she doesn't relent… then yeah. I'll comply, or whatever,"_ he decided, then vanished from his mindscape.

Only a few minutes later the sound of yelling diminished and the door to Hinata's room opened again. Naruto's head snapped up. A middle aged doctor with graying hair stared down at him. His eyes closed and he sighed audibly. Glaring at the demon container, he gestured at the door.

"You can go back inside demon, but don't upset the patient again," he grumbled, before walking away. Naruto bolted up and ran back through the door. Hinata lay on the bed looking winded. Her eyes were lidded but they opened fully when he walked back in. She tried to speak as he sat down, but she was still breathing pretty heavily.

"D-don't (pant) k-kill N-n -pant- N-Neji-n-nii-san," she gasped. Naruto made small shushing noises before coming serious. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

"Why?" he asked plainly. She looked at him sadly before looking out of the window at the rising sun.

"B-because I-I know you N-Naruto-kun. Y-you wouldn't l-like it if you k-killed him. You m-might think you w-want to, b-but you won't l-later. A-also b-because it's not his f-fault. H-he doesn't m-mean to be like this. He's only s-s-sad because his father was k-killed in place of mine for trying to save me from a c-cloud ninja that tried to k-kidnap me," she explained, "He feels that its my f-fault and… I… agree," she mumbled the end. Naruto was suddenly right in her face.

"Hinata, don't ever put yourself down like that, ya hear? I want you to know that you are a good ninja and a good person. You shouldn't blame yourself so much, okay?" he told her firmly. She nodded, a little helplessly. The blonde shinobi ran a hand through his hair. "So you really don't want him to kill him?" he asked, feeling a little disappointed despite himself. Perhaps tearing off that little additive of the snake Sannin had taken more of the seal than he'd thought.

"Y-yes. You c-can h-hurt him if y-you want, but p-please Naruto-k-kun. Don't k-k-kill him," she pleaded. He sighed audibly before grinning at her.

"Eh, I'm relieved," he lied, "I was hoping someone would talk me out of it," he told her, scratching the back of his head in fake-embarrassment and relief. The heiress smiled widely.

"T-thank you Naruto-kun," she said shyly, a blush adorning her cheeks again. He smiled gently.

"No problem Hinata-chan," he replied. Then, he felt so full of a feeling that he had to get it out. "Ya know, when I first met you, I thought you were a dark weirdo," he started. Hinata's eyes widened in horror, "but I've decided that I like people like you," Naruto stated. The Hyuuga turned crimson. Naruto glanced at the window and noticed the sun getting higher. "Gotta go Hinata-chan, but I'll be back to tell you how I kicked Neji's butt!" he told her, before jumping out the window.

_'I like people like you,'_ repeated itself over and over in the young Hyuuga's mind. She fainted.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto arrived at the stadium less than twenty minutes later, ready for a fight. Kyuubi's chakra seemed just in reach and his own chakra boiled just below the surface. Though he couldn't 'see' himself, he was pretty sure that if he kept this up, his eyes would turn red and his whiskers would darken.

_'Not yet,'_ he told himself. _'Later,'_

He looked around to see his fellow competitors lined up in the center. He joined them, noting Sasuke's absence. _'Where is that teme? Has he not recovered?'_ he wondered. _'Nah, that's stupid. Knowing him, he'd be here even if he had to drag himself,'_ the shinobi decided.

"Listen up!" the proctor shouted, holding up a scroll with the match order on it, "look, there have been some adjustments to the order and they will proceed like this," he said, indicating the chart. Naruto noticed that Dosu, the weird Sound village guy with the gauntlet, was the one to drop out.

_'Dropped out or was…'_ Naruto thought, remembering how Gaara had tried to kill Lee after their match. He then raised his hand.

"Uh, if Sasuke doesn't make it here before his match…?" he let the question trail off. The proctor gave him a lazy look.

"Then he forfeits his matched and is declared the loser," he responded. Naruto crossed his arms and his face screwed up in thought. _'But the teme can't just lose because he's late. I need face him, dammit!'_ he pouted. The rest of the competitors stood there, stony faced, awaiting the matches. The blonde jinchuuriki shot a glare at Hyuuga Neji, who stood there impassively. Naruto grimaced and his face then contorted into a snarl. The Hyuuga genius glanced at the blonde shinobi before smirking lightly.

The proctor raised his hand into the air and the whole stadium quieted. "Will Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji please step forward? The rest of you, take your place in the stands," he ordered. The two indicated shinobi came up to stand roughly five feet away from each other. The rest of the candidates made their way to the top of the stadium. Naruto narrowed his eyes and let out something akin to a snarl. Neji just smirked.

"I won't lose!"


End file.
